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5-Star Stocks Poised to Pop: Abbott Labs

Market-trouncing returns could be written in these five stars.

Based on the aggregated intelligence of 145,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS, the Fool's free investing community, health-care company Abbott Labs(NYSE:ABT) has earned a coveted five-star ranking.

With that in mind, let's take a closer look at Abbott's business and see what CAPS investors are saying about the stock right now.

On CAPS, 95.5% of the 1,614 members who have rated Abbott believe the stock will outperform the S&P 500 going forward. These bulls include All-Star stockintrade, who is ranked in the top 12% of our community, and TheGolden13.

Earlier this year, stockintrade singled out Abbott as a rather healthy way to diversify: "Rock steady, dividend history, reasonably well managed, well-diversified in terms of product, markets and geographies."

In a pitch from just last week, TheGolden13 expands on the company's owner-friendly manner:

Abbott has had increasing dividends for over 10 years. This shows strength in the midst of one recession and Depression 2. Important factors for me are that: (1) [Abbott] can pay off its' long term debt with only two years of net income; (2) its current liabilities are half of its current assets; (3) its amount of shares outstanding has remained constant for the past 10 years meaning that it doesn't use stock offerings to raise money ... and finally its P/E is about 15 which is at an all time low over the past 10 years.

What do you think about Abbott, or any other stock for that matter? Make your voice heard on Motley Fool CAPS today. The CAPS community is waiting to hear your opinions. CAPS is 100% free, so get started!